Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management

Kosciuszko National Park, which encompasses 673,542 hectares, is the largest national park in New South Wales and one of the most complex conservation reserves in Australia.

Kosciuszko National Park is part of the 1.6 million hectare chain of national parks and reserves across the Australian alps. The NSW Government works with the Victorian, ACT and Australian Governments to protect this area through regional programs under the Australian Alps Memorandum of Understanding.

The park contains Australia’s highest mountains, unique glacial landscapes, and unusual assemblages of plants and animals, a number of which are found nowhere else. The park encompasses significant water catchments, the principal seasonally snow-covered region in Australia and extensive tracts of forest and woodland.

Many people have a strong attachment to Kosciuszko National Park. Local Aboriginal communities have deep cultural connections and many non-Aboriginal people have links to the land associated with previous and present uses. The park has a rich Aboriginal and European history and in some cases, the mountains, their people and their exploits have become part of Australian folklore and helped shape our national identity.

The park is one of the most popular national parks in New South Wales. Recreational activities undertaken in the park include vehicle-based sightseeing, bushwalking, cycling, fishing, canoeing, and caving. While winter presence of snow is a main drawcard for many visitors when the alpine resorts become the focus of visitor activities, summer activities, including cycling, are growing strongly.

This plan of management has been prepared to provide a framework to guide the long-term management of the broad range of values contained in the park. It contains a suite of actions to be undertaken by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and other organisations to protect and conserve the values of the park.

First published in June 2006; reprinted May 2010, December 2010, February 2014, December 2014 and June 2021 with amendments.

Attachments to the Plan of Management

Schedule 8 outlines accommodation numbers in the alpine resorts. Bed numbers within the alpine resorts are periodically updated. A plan of management amendment is not required to update Schedule 8.

Schedule 8 accommodation bed numbers Kosciuszko National Park (PDF 584KB)

Amendments

These amendments have been incorporated into the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2006):

Geotechnical and water management amendment to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2010)

Amendment to increase volunteer ski patrol beds Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2010)

Amendments to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management: Allow pilot of horse riding in wilderness (2014)

Amendments to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management: To allow consideration of sustainable mountain biking opportunities (2014)

Horse Riding in Wilderness Amendments to Plans of Management for Far South Coast Escarpment Parks, Kosciuszko National Park and Mummel Gulf National Park and State Conservation Area (2019).

Amendment to Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management: Visitor Experience Improvements (2019)

These amendments have been adopted by the Minister for Environment and Heritage but are not yet incorporated into the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management (2006):

Kosciuszko National Park Amendment to the Plan of Management: Snowy Mountains Special Activation Precinct (2022)

Kosciuszko National Park Amendment to the Plan of Management: Snowy 2.0 (2022)

Kosciuszko National Park Amendment to the Plan of Management: Commercial recreation in wilderness areas (2023)